Friday, November 13, 2009

Harawira supporters there for long haul

Rotorua lawyer Annette Sykes says yesterday meeting, which was closed to Pakeha journalists, was unhappy with the suggestion by party president Whatarangi Winiata that the long time protest leader quit the party and become an independent.

She says before the party hierarchy arrived at the hui, the electorate council had adopted resolutions charting a way out of the crisis, including that the party should accept Mr Harawira's apology for using racial terms and expletives in an email.

“What his people are saying is Hone is not an embarrassment. He is a proud fighter for their rights. Ordinary mums and dads, nannies and koros, rangatahi who are proud to be part of the Maori party which enables a leader who they have treasured to put the issues that they want forward,” Ms Sykes says.

Under the party's constitution the Tai Tokerau electorate council should be ultimately responsible for Mr Harawira's fate.

LEON WIJOHN RATED OUTSTANDING BY ACCOUNTING PEERS

The Institute of Chartered Accountants has named a specialist in Maori business its outstanding new member.

Leon Wijohn from Te Rarawa, Tuhoe, Ngai Tahu and Ngati Whaoa beat out four other finalists for the coveted award, which is open to accountants who have been qualified for less than 5 years.

He says once the historical settlement process is completed Maori could control up to a quarter of the New Zealand economy.

But with less than two percent of accountants with Maori whakapapa, there's a great need to encourage more into the profession.

“Probably half of them have connections back to their hapu and their iwi so there’s a huge need for us to get out there and try and get students to think of accounting as a profession and try to get people that are at universities to think about accounting because of the need we have now and the need we’re going to have in the next 10 years,” he says.

The Outstanding New Member Award earned Leon Wijon $38,000 in prizes including a new car and an overseas holiday.

MUSIC AWARDS CHANCE TO CELEBRATE WIDE RANGE OF ARTISTS

This weekend's Maori music awards in Hastings will celebrate the impact Maori have on New Zealand music.

Organiser Tama Huata says it's a chance acknowledge musical expertise and help shape future directions for Maori in the industry.

A symposium today included discussion of traditional and modern composition as well as a panel of artists and industry representatives.

Mr Huata says the awards make up for the paucity of Maori music in mainstream awards, and show the range of music from waiata to hip hop to rap and R&B.Tama Huata.

Tomorrow's programme at the Hawkes Bay Opera House Plaza includes performances during the day by artists including Maisey Rika, Smashproof and Te Huaki Puanakai, with the awards ceremony in the evening.

ORGANISATION PLAN PUTS MAORI AT BOTTOM OF HEAP

Auckland iwi Ngati Whatua is angry an organisation chart for the new super city relegates Maori relations to a third tier manager.

He says the discussion document released by Auckland Transition Agency executive chair, Mark Ford is an insult to the rengion's mana whenua iwi.

“We're probably for some tribes worse off than what they’ve currently got and we’re certainly under Ngati Whatua no better under this proposal by the ATA than where we’re at now and so one wonders what was the whole point of this about trying to make Auckland greater and more unified. It certainly hasn’t brought in Maori,” Mr Blair says.

He says the document from the Auckland Transition Agency illustrates the kind of institutional racism Ngati Whatau has come up against as it tries to build treaty-based relationships.

REPATRIATION TEAM TO EUROPE IN SEARCH OF TOI MOKO

A small team from Te Papa is flying out for Europe tonight to bring home the remains of 33 Maori from museums in Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Sweden.

The skeletal remains or koiwi tangata include four tattooed preserved heads known as toi moko.

Acting chief executive Michelle Hippolite says the return of the tupuna follows the successful repatriation of 45 ancestral remains from the UK two years ago.

She says Te Papa has spent six years negotiating the return of the koiwi tangata and toi moko.

“It's not appropriate for tupuna to be on display in museums, In the UK there are very few museums now where you see toi moko on display,” Ms Hippolite says.

The tupuna will be welcomed back with a powhiri at Te Papa at the end of the month, and they will eventually be returned to the iwi they came from.

DAWN UNVEILING FOR HUGE WAHAROA IN TAUPO

The carver of a 9 metre waharoa to be unveiled in Taupo at first light tomorrow wants it to be a unifying force in the community.

The carving, commissioned by Contact Energy to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Wairakei power project, tells the history of the region and geothermal energy's part in it.

Delanie Brown says he incorporated the words of his Tuwharetoa ancestors into the totara work, including the story about the ancestor who called geothermal activity into being.

The waharoa at the entrance to the cenotaph has involved Maori, the Taupo district council, the RSA, religious faiths and Contact Energy.

Matiu Rata recognized as Pacific influence

Time Magazine has rated the late Matiu Rata as one of the 50 people who shaped the south Pacific region over the past half century.

The list, compiled by the international news magazine to mark its 50th year publishing in the region, includes New Zealand prime ministers Rob Muldoon, David Lange and Helen Clark, sportsmen Peter Snell and Peter Blake, and filmmakers Jane Campion and Peter Jackson.

It says as Labour's Maori affairs minister between 1972 and 1975, Mr Rata cemented his legacy by setting up the Waitangi Tribunal.

Sandra Lee, who followed Mr Rata as leader of the Mana Motuhake Party, says it was a major achievement.

“This country as a whole, Maori hand Pakeha, have a great deal to be grateful to Matiu Rata for, because as the architect of the Waitangi Tribunal legislation he provided an incredibly critical safety valve that allowed Maori and the wider society for that matter to express the problems that hgad been created by colonisation in a fair forum,” Mrs Lee says.

She says Matiu Rata had a wonderful rapport with leaders coming through in the Pacific at the same time such as Michael Somare of Papua Pew Guinea, who also features on the Time list.

TAUPO BONES CONFIRMED AS COMING FROM MOA

A large pile of giant bones unearthed during road works in Taupo last week are moa.

Archeologists have confirmed the 40 bones come from at least five adult birds of at least two different species.

Ted Anderson, Taupo district council infrastructure's manager, the birds could have fallen into a tomo or cave at different times.

He says local Maori will be consulted on what happens to the incomplete skeletons.

“We’ve spoken with individuals rather than Tuwharetoa or Tauhara as a whole so we probably very early in the process as far as resolving the future of the bones,” Mr Anderson says.

MUSKET WARS RELATIONS BASIS FOR NEW PLAY

The writer of a new play starting in Auckland next week says cross cultural relationships are at its heart.

Flintlock Musket is the second play by Kirk Torrance from Ngati Kahungunu ki Wairoa, who's better known as Wayne Judd in TV3's Outrageous Fortune.

He wrote his first play, the critically acclaimed play Strata, because he got hoha sitting around waiting for acting jobs.

His second is a tale of a Scotsman called Mason who arrives in New Zealand during the Musket Wars and is taken in by a tribal chief.

“I think it’s a dynamic era, the two cultures trying to forge some kind of relationship and trade was a big thing, cultivation methods came and muskets came, viruses, so Mason is trying to make his living here, he can’t do it and he gets taken as a mokai into an iwi that live in this isolated barren land,” Mr Torrance says.

The Flintlock Musket, which opens at the Edge next Tuesday, features Nancy Brunning, Jason Whyte, Maaka Pohatu and Te Kohe Tuhaka. It's directed by Rachael House.

TOURISM PRIZE ENDORSEMENT FOR MAORI BUSINESS

The winner of a major international tourism prize says the honour is a massive endorsement for Maori business.

Whale Watch Kaikoura beat out 5000 other ventures to win the supreme award in the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards.

Speaking from London, chief operating officer Kauahi Ngapora says it's been a huge achievement building up a the company from a small whanau-owned operation to one with whale watch ventures on both sides of the Tasman.

He says the award makes him proud to be Maori and represent a 100 percent Maori owned company which has taken on the world.

Kauahi Ngapora says the win will have huge spin off for Whale Watch, Kaikoura, and the Maori tourism sector.

FLIGHTS WILL OVER FLY HAPU PROTEST

Rotorua deputy mayor Trevor Maxwell is looking forward to being on board the first direct transTasman flight to the city early next month ... even if it is greeted by protesting relatives.

A group of Ngati Uenukukopako from Ruamata Marae which lies under the flightpath have opposed developing the airport to accomodate the larger planes needed.

Mr Maxwell from Ngati Whakaue says the twice-weekly A320 flight will make less noise than conventional aircraft using the facility.

“It's everybody’s right to protest but the majority of tribal people are in favour, some of the elders are going over o Australia to fly back on the first flight. This is so vital to our community, particularly in recession. This is going to be good for employment and good for the visitor industry,” Mr Maxwell says.

The first direct flight from Sydney is on December the 12th.

WANANGA OPPORTUNITY IN TARANAKI FESTIVAL

One of the organisers of this weekend's first Taranaki Maori Festival says there's more to it than bragging rights in sports and kapa haka.

Roopu from the eight iwi of Taranaki will converging on Waitara today and tomorrow to strengthen their understanding of the history, waiata and traditions of the rohe.

Wharehoka Wano says while sports and haka are drawcards, there are also lessons to help whanau who live outside Taranaki.

Wharehoka Wano says the festival is a warm up for next March's 150th anniversary of the start of the Taranaki land wars.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Whale Watch Kaikoura top of the world

Whale Watch Kaikoura is expecting huge spin-offs for the company, the town and the whole country from its win of one of the world's top tourism awards.

Judges of the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism awards praised the company, owned jointly by Ngai Tahu and Kaikoura hapu Ngati Kuri, for its journey from humble beginnings to becoming an internationally significant operator with whale watch ventures on both sides of the Tasman.

“I did an interview with the BBC, the major sponsor of the event. They let me know it would be seen by round 100 million people. That type of exposure for our company is huge and it will have definite benefits for the company but also Kaikoura,” Mr Ngapora says.

Whale Watch Kaikoura is a nimble company will have no difficulty gearing up for any increase in visitor numbers.

PM KEEN TO MAINTAIN HARMONOUS RELATIONS POST HARAWIRA

The Prime Minister says it would be a tragedy if the controversy over Hone Harawira undermined race relations.

Maori Party officials and co-leader Pita Sharples met with the Tai Tokerau MP today to discuss his unauthorised trip to Paris and his sending of an expletive-filled email.

The hui was held at the marae associated with Te Rangi Aniwaniwa school set up by Mr Harawira and his wife.

John Key says he doesn't think the wider Maori party shares Mr Harawira's sentiments about whites raping land and ripping Maori off for centuries.

“One of the things you’ve had as a result of the relationship between the Maori Party and the National Party a very positive nationwide feeling we’re making improvements in race relations, not that they were historically bad, they ebb and flow a bit, but I think there’s real goodwill there and progress is being made and if people use this to somehow say this is an underlying view held by the Maori Party it would be a tragedy, because it's not,” Mr Key says.

He found Hone Harawira's comments to former Waitangi Tribunal director Buddy Mikaere offensive and unacceptable.

MP’S SHOOTING COMMENTS CROSSED LINE FOR HOROMIA

Labour Maori MP Parekura Horomia says Hone Harawira has crossed a line with his fellow parliamentarians in trying to defend his behaviour over his trip to Paris.

The Taitokerau MP has been meeting with Maori Party members in Kaitaia today to discuss his fate.

Mr Horomia says parliament can be a tough place, but members need to stop their arguments becoming personal.

He says when given chance on Radio Waatea to explain his actions, Mr Harawira instead used extreme language to attack on Phil Goff and other Labour MPs for bringing in the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

“To try to distract the issue by turning back to the foreshore and seabed, Hone is just gutless doing that and saying we as Maori members should be shot, it’s just getting past common sense. He should go,” Mr Horomia says.

He says tensions between Mr Harawira and other Maori Party MPs are well known and the way the errant MP has been dealt with is a real test for the party leadership.

GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS ABSENT FROM VIOLENCE SYMPOSIUM

A researcher into Maori child abuse is disappointed at the absence of government agencies from a symposium on Maori violence.

The hui was organised by Te Pae o te Maramatanga, the centre for Maori research excellence,

Rawiri Taonui, the head of Maori and indigenous studies at Canterbury University, says it was a chance to catch up on the latest thinking from Maori and other indigenous experts working in the field.

“Some of the really good research that goes on is not really heeded by the government, other than the minister, of Maori Affairs there were no government officials, policy writers, heads of department present at the hui. It’s hugely disappointing,” Mr Taonui says.

KAUPAPA MAORI DRUG CENTRE LOSES DHB FUNDING

One of the country's two kaupapa Maori residential drug and alcohol centres for young people is to close because of funding cuts.

Mere Balzer from Te Runanga o Kirikiriroa says the Hamilton urban Maori authority's 12-bed Rongo Atea unit has lost funding from the Taranaki and Lakes district health boards, as well as one of its two contracts with its main funder, the Waikato DHB.

She says no explanation was given, and believes racial attitudes are to blame.

“I just have to come to the conclusion that it’s because we are Maori kids going in there that people don’t seem to care and I’m talking about the funders here because they know that we make a difference, they know that we have a good service here. We’ve got something like a 53 percent graduation rate. For an addiction service, that is really really good odds,” Ms Balzer says.

The centre has been told it can apply for funding from the Government's "Fresh Start" youth justice initiative after April, but its doors will be closed by then and the staff would be almost impossible to replace.

ANDERTON ENDORSES KAPAPA THRUST

Meanwhile, the politician who headed the last government's drug policies is hailing kaupapa approaches to fighting substance abuse.

In a speech prepared for the Community Action on Youth and Drugs national hui on the east coast this week, Jim Anderton said thousands of lives are being turned around by Maori methods.

He says while P is getting the headlines, last year less than 10 deaths were attributed to methamphetamine abuse.

Alcohol kills more than a thousand people a year, and smoking kills 5000.

“We have a significant number of Maori workers committed to this task and I must say they are a magnificent bunch of people who do tremendous work over a long period of time.” Mr Anderton says.

He says increasing funding for the CAYAD programmes was one of the best things he did in Government.

PAUL HENARE INTO THIRD CENTURY OF BREAKERS GAMES

Veteran point guard Paul Henare gets another chance tonight to prove what a valuable asset he is to the Breakers basketball franchise.

The team takes on NBL competition leaders Perth at the North Shore Events Centre.

Commentator Te Arahi Maihi says the continued unavailability of crack shooter Kirk Penney and a midweek sacking of American import Awvee Storey makes the former international's contribution off the bench that much more vital.

“He's a foundation player. Last week he played his 200th game and he still has a huge impact both on and off the court. On the court he’s a tenacious defender. He’s a leader. Some might rate him the kaumatua of the team but he’s still contributing night after night for the Breakers,” Mr Maipi says.

Spectrum claimants keen to build on past wins

A Maori spectrum claimant says a new dispute about broadcasting frequencies shouldn't have to go back to the Waitangi Tribunal.

Groups with an interest in broadcasting and Maori language met at Kokiri marae in Petone last weekend to develop a strategy for asserting the Maori interest when frequencies used for analogue television are reallocated in the switch to digital broadcasting.

Piripi Walker from the Wellington Maori language association, Nga Kaiwhakapumau i te Reo, says past campaigns which took claimants as far as the Privy Council won Maori a share of radio, television and cellphone spectrum, but the Crown seems to have forgotten why it lost.

“The tribunal was very cross in 1999 in having to consult a full another years and a half of hearings on this when it had all been done in 1990 on FM. They asked what’s going on here. Are Maori going to have to come back and do this ad infinitum, every time there is a spectrum auction. So the tribunal has already told the Crown off and told the Crown what it is doing is in itself a breach of the treaty,” Mr Walker says.

The weekend hui wrote to the Governemnt asking it to consult about the surplus television spectrum.

SPORTS WAY TO STEER YOUTH FROM DRUG LIFESTYLE

A former rugby league international says sports are a ways to get rangatahi involved in healthy lifestyles that discourage drug use.

Kevin Tamati heads the Ahuriri Runanga's CAYAD, or Community Action on Youth and Drugs initiative in the Hawkes Bay.

He told the national CAYAD hui in Te Araroa yesterday that it's organisations like the East Coast Boxing Club in Ruatoria who are willing to work with rangatahi other agencies put in the too hard basket.

“We're certainly going to have an input into supporting the mahi of East Coast Boxing Association and it’s because of where they are. They’re rural kids, both male and female, and they find themselves way out of touch as far as funding agencies are concerned,” Mr Tamati says.

PUKETUTU DUMPING CHALLENGE HEADING FOR COURT

A fight is brewing over Auckland's Watercare Services' plan to dump treated sewerage on Puketutu Island in the Manukau harbour.

The council-owned company was refused consent to dump waste from its Mangere Wastewater Treatment Plant on the island, because Maori see as tapu.

But Watercare says it's going ahead any using its powers as an infrastructure provider.

Now the Makaurau Marae Maori Trust is going to the Environment Court, alongside Manukau City which classified the island in its district plan as waahi tapu.The Trust says it is not for a wastewater company to decide if the island is sacred.

HARAWIRA FAILS TEST OF HISTORICAL ACCURACY

A history lesson from veteran activist Titewhai harawira has been graded fail by one of the country's longest serving historians.

On Radio Waatea, Mrs Harawira told listeners it was ironic news of her son Hone's unauthorised trip to Paris and subsequent obscenity riddled email came to light on November the fifth, the anniversary of the invasion of the Taranaki settlement of Parihaka.

She says the MP's words and actions pale into insignificance when seen against New Zealand's colonial history.

“Well on the fifth of November 1881 the colonial masters were down there in Parihaka and they murdered the women and children and raped the women, cut off their breasts and used them for tobacco pouches, imprisoned the men down in the South Island, burnt all their wheat fields and smashed up all of their flour mills and all of these things, confiscated thousands of acres of land and you know this is history. It’s a fact,” Mrs Harawira says.

ASK THAT MOUNTAIN AUTHOR SAYS NO DEATHS AT PARIHAKA

But 84-year old Dick Scott, whose 1954 book Ask That Mountain brought the Paihaka story to the attention of many New Zealanders for the first time, says Mrs Harawira's more extreme claims have no historical basis.

His research for the book included interviewing kuia who had been at Parihaka when it was sacked.

“The women at Parihaka were mistreated, they were raped, there was syphilis spread amongst there and there were free of those disease until we got there doing that but nobody was killed, and as for the children being tortured, all this is imagination run riot. This sort of claim has happened before and it has been dismissed as carrying the thing to absurdity,” Mr Scott says.

He says the non-violence practiced by the two or three thousand Maori at Parihaka on the day of the invasion meant the colonial troops had no cause to open fire, which might have led to deaths.

TAINUI OPPORTUNITY IN WAIKATO CYCLEWAY

Tainui leader Tukoroirangi Morgan says Maori need to take advantage to the opportunities created by the national cycleway through the Waikato.

Prime Minister John Key turned the first sod for a stretch of the cycleway beside the Waikato River.

Mr Morgan says it will pass through sections of Maori land and over some set aside for future settlements.

He says enterprising Waikato whanau need to look for ways to service the people from around the world who will ride it.

“We should be bold and smart enough to take the opportunity to use those resources to build capacity amongst our whanau, our hapu and our marae. I think it’s an excellent move,” Mr Morgan says.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Maori opposing Crown grab for UHF spectrum

Maori spectrum claimants have asked the Government to taihoa on reallocating frequencies freed up by the shift from analog to digital television.

Piripi Walker, the treasurer of Wellington Maori language association Nga Kaiwhakapumau i Te Reo, says a national hui at Kokiri Marae in Petone over the weekend confirmed the determination of claimants to hold fast to the gains made in two landmark cases in the 1990s over broadcasting and cellphone spectrum.

He says of immediate concern is the fate of a block of UHF spectrum which Sky is using in exchange for rebroadcasting Maori Television.

“The Crown says they’re going to become vacant with digital tv. Now Maori have said, all of the roopu, they’ve said those frequencies because of article two, they came into Maori hands, with the management right had very major economic benefit Maori can be a player if they retain in perpetuity, all of roopu Maori, singing from the same song sheet, say they should not go back to the Crown at his point,” Mr Walker says.

He says Maori don't feel they should have to go back to court to refight a battle they have won twice before.

MOVEMENT ON FORESHORE POSITIVE COMING FROM IWI

Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia is pleased iwi are getting behind efforts to replace the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

A national hui in Rotorua yesterday discussed a process through which iwi will develop a consensus position on how Maori customary rights to the takutai moana should be recognised, and further regional hui will be held up until Christmas.

Mrs Turia, who quit Labour in protest at the Act, says while it may be impossible to turn the clock back to before 2004, it's important to restore the right of Maori to go to court.

“Our people's right to take a case to court is really important and the difference with this is our people are being consulted so whatever happens it will be an agreement with them and that’s a definite difference to last time,” Mrs Turia says.

She expects replacement legislation will be introduced into Parliament in the second half of 2010.

The Internal Affairs department this week took action against three trusts which over the psast three years have given more than $5 million to harness racing clubs which use Auckland's Alexandra Park.

Zoe Hawke from Hapai Te Hauora Tapui says says it was an appalling misallocation of funds which were supposed to go for community purposes.

“It’s $5.4 million and if you think who gambles, the Ministry of Health tells us Maori have a higher percentage of gambling rates in bars and pubs, that’s their money that went to trotting so Maori are missing out on the funding they put in the machines in the first place,” Ms Hawke says.

NO NATIONAL SOLUTION LIKELY TO SATISFY ON FORESHORE ACT

Tainui chairperson Tuukoroirangi Morgan believes iwi are unlikely to accept a one size fits all solution to recognising rights over the foreshore and seabed.

Iwi leaders met in Rotorua yesterday to approve a plan of consultation and drafting to develop an alternative which will convince the Government to go through with repealing the contentious Act.

They also agreed any changes should not affect settlements negotiated under the Act by coastal iwi like Ngati Porou and Te Whanau a Apanui.

Mr Morgan says the issue is being treated as a treaty negotiation, but there can be no simple solution.

“There will never be another settlement like the fisheries settlement where there was a collective settlement for all and it used a one size fits all kaupapa and framework. That’s the model iwi round the country aren’t comfortable with because it doesn’t capture its uniqueness region by region, iwi by iwi and so we have to be innovative about how we do this,” Mr Morgan says.

The iwi leaders will aim to complete their consultation by April, when a national hui will be held at Turangawaewae marae in Ngaruawahia.

OPTIMISM AS RANGATAHI STEP UP TO DRUG PROBLEM

An anti drug campaigner and community organiser says young Maori leaders are stepping up to the challenges drugs and alcohol are posing in Maori communities.

Dennis O'Reilly says he was heartened by the commitment shown by rangatahi involved in Cayad, or community action on Youth and drugs, which held a three day national hui this week at Hinerupe Marae in Te Araroa.

“You know I’ve been in community action for over 30 years now and just seeing these young leaders coming through, these young CAYAD workers working at the front line, working with and for their communities and I think we can have a lot of hope as a nation,” Mr O Reilly says.

The hui heard how important it is for communities to provide positive activities and directions for their rangatahi.

MANA WHENUA HAVE PLANS FOR WATERFRONT

Auckland's Ngati Whatua runanga says it's time Auckland gave pride of place to its mana whenua.

Nayda Glavish says that the opportunity it now has with the redesign of Queens Wharf.

A competition to reshape the wharf into a venue for events around the 2011 Rugby World Cup was aborted because Auckland mayor John Banks and Regional Council chair Mike Lee were unhappy with the quality of designs.

Ms Glavish says their mistake was to exclude Maori from the design process, and they can now rectify that.

“What I would like is an opportunity for us to showcase mana whenua, tangata whenua in Tamaki Makaurau but certainly in Aotearoa. It would be an opportunity to give view and voice and face to the soul of the city. We’ve been here long before the city was,” Ms Glavish says.

Harawira turns defence into attack on Labour

Veteran activitist Titewhai Harawira says people should be offended by the country's history, not a few Pakeha words used in anger by her embattled son.

On Radio Waatea yesterday, Maori Party MP Hone Harawira attempted to justify going to Paris instead of attending an scheduled meeting at the European Parliament in Brussels, and apologised for the obscene language he used in brushing off a party supporter who questioned the side trip.

Labour Leader Phil Goff says it was not a credible apology.

But Mrs Harawira says Labour's Foreshore and Seabed Act was far more offensive than the language used by her son.

“I listened to Phil Goff and thought well, a few Pakeha words here or there and people are offended but what about the racist legislation he as the Labour Party introduced when they stole the takutai moana that divided the Maori world, the Pakeha world and everyone else in this country and it is still there and it is law,” Mrs Harawira says.

She says it is ironic that her son came in for criticism on the anniversary of the invasion of Parihaka by colonial troops.

ROTOMA 1 SEEKS INVESTMENT FROM NEIGHBOURS IN STEAM POWER

One of Rotorua's oldest Maori land incorporations is offering neighboring land trusts the chance to invest in its $200 million geothermal power station.

Rotoma No 1, which represents about 1700 landowners, is seeking a resource consent from Environment Bay of Plenty to build a 35 kilowatt station on the shores of Lake Rotoma.

“We've spent time trying to work out a memorandum so we can share in what we have, even though we’re going alone with the resource consent, we are still open for out cousins to become part of the project. They have got to come to the party too but if they don’t we are going to carry on because we need it,” Mr Gardiner says.

He is disappointed some neighbouring trust are objecting on the grounds the power station will disturb waahi tapu, as he's confident it won't affect sacred things like the soda hot springs by the lake.

TARANAKI SIGNS UP FOR FESTIVAL OF PRIDE AND WHANUNGATANGA

Registrations are coming in fast for the first Taranaki Maori Festival.

Organiser Wharehoka Wano says the eight iwi will come together at Waitara for sports, kapahaka, debates and wananaga.

He says more than 1000 are expected at the two day festival which starts on Friday.

He says the festival is not just for the people at home but for the hono around the country.

COMPETITION FAILURE CHANCE FOR REDESIGN WITH MANA WHENUA

The chair of Te Runanga o Ngati Whatua runanga says the inability of politicians to come up with a suitable design for Auckland's Queens Wharf opens the way for Maori input.

Auckland mayor John Banks and Auckland Regional Council chair Mike Lee last week rejected all the designs submitted through a competition.

Naida Glavish says the competition ignored mana whenua iwi, so now the politicians now have a chance to make amends.

“I expect them to now make contact. Grow up. We’re here. We’ve always been here, and it’s your opportunity to not only acknowledge the fact that we’re here but to showcase it and be proud as we are of Tamaki Makaurau,” Ms Glavish says.

Ngati Whatua doesn't want to be exclusive but to have the Maori component of the city showcased.

INSTANT MAORI GUIDE PROVING POPULAR

The co author of the Instant Maori phrasebook says the next move is to digitise the information so people can access the information through their cellphones.

Paul Walker from Taranaki and Te Atiawa says the pocketsized book of words and phrases and words has sold more than 50 thousand copies in four print runs.

Mr Walker says co-author Nick Theobald has produced similar books in Indonesian, Cantonese and Thai.

He says putting into phrases like "honey I'm pregnant," or "does my bum look big in this" into Maori have struck a chord, and it's time Instant Maori went digital.

MOANA AND THE TRIBE ADD HAKA TO IKA

Moana Maniapoto has a fishy tale about her latest overseas gig.

Moana and the Tribe helped open an new aquarium in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

It's the 24th built by the New Zealand team behind the construction of Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World in Auckland, and makes use of the same patented technology for submerged walkways and travelators.

Ms Maniapoto says the performances of the Tribe's four kapa haka experts went down well with Turkish audiences, who really warmed to the group.

Moana Maniapoto and the Tribe also played Istanbul's Babylon Club, regarded as one of the top venues in Europe.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Maori landowners want climate change escape

Maori farming and forest interests are demanding there be zero cost if they want to switch land use under a new emissions trading scheme.

Consultant Willie te Aho says a hui in Rotorua this morning resoundingly backed the proposals put up with the Iwi Leadership Group which is consulting with the Government on climate change issues.

He says as the Government is keen to get its amendments through before the United Nations climate change hui in Copenhagen next month, the price for Maori Party support shuld be removing proposed fees that will be charged if forest is cleared for pasture or other use.

“If I want to change 10 hectares of my pre-1990 forest land from forestry to farming then there’s zero cost, and that’s actually a bottom line from the hui today. If that issue is not supported and clearly reflected in the legislation then the iwi leadership group will be advocating the Maori Party not support this legislation,” Willie Te Aho says.

Many Maori blocks were put into long term forestry leases at a time owners had little say about what was done with their land, but times have moved on.

APOLOGY REJECTED IN SPIRIT IT WAS GIVEN

What started as an explanation by Hone Harawira about his trip to Paris is turning into a dogfight between the embattled Maori Party MP and Labour leader Phil Goff.

Mr Harawira made the rounds of media this morning, starting with an interview with Willie Jackson on Auckland's Radio Waatea, justifying his trip to the city of love and apologising for the abusive language used in an email to a Maori Party supporter who jokingly questioned him about who paid for wife Hilda to go along.

He also attacked Mr Goff, who'd preceded him on the station, saying he should be lined up against a wall and shot for Labour's Foreshore and Seabed Act.

Mr Goff says Hone Harawira has still not apologised for misusing taxpayer funds.

“He actually doesn't think he’s done anything wrong. He says it’s ok to rip off the taxpayer because it’s those white mother-fs that have caused so much trouble. I think he’s still living in a world where when he stuffs up, he has to blame somebody else and why me needs to bring race into that and make derogatory obscene and offensive comments against another group based on the colour of their skin won’t I think be acceptable to Maori or Pakeha in New Zealand,” Mr Goff says parliamentary trips aren't done for personal gratification.

KIWI LEADERSHIP NEEDS TIME TO PROVE WORTH

The Kiwis' Maori leadership needs to be given more time to prove their worth, according to sports commentator Ken Laban.

The national league squad captained by Benji Marshall and coached by Steve Kearney were bundled out of the Four Nations Championship on the weekend, going down to England 20-12.

Mr Laban says the team has lost three out of its four tests this year.

"He's a new coach. Benji Marshall’s a new captain. I think on this occasion we’ll probably cut both of them a bit of slack but by any measure it’s been a poor year . We need to give them another year in charge before we make any definitive judgments on their long term future," Mr Laban says.

Steve Kearny has had his contract with the NZRL extended to 2012.

DISSENT EMERGES AT FORESHORE HUI

An attempt to create an iwi-driven alternative to the Foreshore and Seabed Act is entering choppy waters.

A national hui at Rotorua today discussed a work plan put up by an Iwi Leaders's forum in Hopuhopu last month, in response to indication the Government is open to the idea of scrapping the contentious Act.

But some Maori feel excluded.

Iwi leaders including Tukoroirangi Morgan of Tainui and Mark Solomon of Ngai Tahu were pushing for a working group to put together a new framework which will take into account mana whenua and mana iwi as well as the current agreements of Ngati Porou, Ngati Pahauwera, Te Rarawa and Te Whanau a Apanui in developing a replacement framework for the seabed and foreshore Act.

But lawyers Annette Sykes of Ngati Pikiao and Jason Pou of Ngapuhi say the group is moving too quickly and excluding some iwi.

They say the group cannot proceed until all iwi are on board the waka.

GOFF DEFENDS RECORD ON FORESHORE FRAMEWORK

Meanwhile, Labour leader Phil Goff is denying a charge the Foreshore and Seabed Act was the single largest nationalisation of land in the history of Aotearoa.

The charge was made by embattled Maori Party MP Hone Harawira, explaining to Radio Waatea host Willie Jackson why he rejected Mr Goff's call he be suspended from Parliament for last month's unauthorised side trip to Paris when he was supposed to be at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Mr Harawira says Mr Goff and his Labour colleagues should be lined up against the wall and shot for pushing through the Act.

But Mr Goff says the Taitokerau MP is distorting history.

“There's been no confiscation of land and indeed Ngati Porou and Whanau a Papanui have either negotiated or are in the process of negotiating deals they think are very good in the context of that legislation to provide specific protections over land which land which they would have customary title and over land waahi tapu that needs to be protected,” Mr Goff says.

He says Hone Harawira is throwing up smokescreens rather than accepting his abuse of taxpayer money and subsequent obscene and racist statements were unacceptable.

ROTOMA 1 SEEKING CONSENT FOR GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANT

The chair of Rotorua's oldest Maori land incorporation is confident the environment won't suffer from a proposed $200 million geothermal power station between lakes Rotoiti and Rotoma.

Environment Bay of Plenty is holding consent hearings this week on Rotoma No 1's plans.

Robbie Gardiner says the 35 kw power station will draw steam from deep underground, so it won't affect the Soda Springs hot pools on the shores of Rotoma or the bush at Hongi's track, which runs between the two lakes.

He says it is disappointing Maori are among 10 objectors.

“Our neighbours are objecting to the fact of waahi tapu which is quite sad because we are Maori, we come from Rotoma so if anything tapu happens, we know what the procedure is for Te Arawa. We will treat anything like that with profound respect,” Mr Gardiner says.

Maori Party caucus in disarray

A former Alliance president says the Maori Party caucus is in disarray.

Political strategist Matt McCarten says with its co-leaders now ministers outside cabinet, the party's three backbench MPs have been left to run their own race.

He says the furore over Hone Harawira's unauthorised sick day sightseeing in Paris and his abusive emails shows internal discipline is lacking.

“It's clear from the outside they are acting as five individuals. Unless they address that, instances like this will continue, so it’s a bit of a wake up call that all of them have got to take some responsibility about hw they act as a unit instead of five constituent MPs all doing their own thing,” Mr McCarten says.

NGATI POROU TAKING LONGER VIEW OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Iwi leaders are meeting in Rotorua today on changes to the emissions trading scheme.

The Government's intention to delay the introduction of penalties for the creators of greenhouse gases could benefit some large Maori farming incorporations, even if opponents say ordinary Maori families will pay the price.

The Government with Maori Party support wants the bill passed before the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen in December.

Apirana Mahuika, the chair of the Ngati Porou runanga, says his iwi is taking the long view of climate change, and wants to see support for the carbon forest the iwi is planting on the East Coast.

“Ultimately Ngati Porou, in terms of the eroding land, not my generation but maybe 40 years from now, our mokopuna will stand to benefit from the effects and from the outcomes that planting trees would bring,” Mr Mahuika says.

Immediately after the climate change hui the iwi will discuss what alternative they would like to see if the Foreshore and Seabed Act is repealed.

VIOLENCE NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED IN SCHOOLYARD

One of the rangatahi behind a Nelson student anti-violence group says schools need to rethink the way they deal with violence in the classroom and playground.

Johny O'Donnell from Nelson College addressed a symposium in Auckland yesterday on violence and abuse, organised by Nga Pae o te Maramatanga, the Maori centre for research excellence.

The Motueka 15-year-old says large amounts of verbal abuse and small acts of aggression are tolerated in schools until things get out of hand ... when the perpetrator of physical violence usually ends up being suspended or expelled.

He says no attempt it made to identify the needs to the attacker or go to the source of what is happening and try to address it.

“We need to invest in our greatest treasure, our children. They need to be educated from day one about non-violence and peace. We need to empower victims to expose all forms of violence. And we need to understand the perpetrators and tautoko them through eradicating the demon of violence that possesses them and transforming them into caring and loving people,” Mr O'Donnell says.

Teachers and students need to confront violence when it happens.

MIKAERE UNREPENTANT ON HARAWIRA DOCUMENT DUMP

A former Waitangi Tribunal director is standing by his decision to make public an email exchange with Tai Tokerau MP Hone Harawira.

Buddy Mikaere says his original email asking who paid for Mr Harawira's wife Hilda to travel with him to Paris was being light hearted, and he did not expect a stream of anti-Pakeha invective to come back.

He's now experiencing a backlash for taking up the MP's challenge to make the emails public.

“Well I didn't make the original comment where we should be sheeting home this thing, not to the fact I took him up on his invitation to disseminate what he'd been saying,” Mr Mikaere says.

Hone Harawira will give his first public response to the controversy surrounding his European trip and the ‘racist’ email message 10 this morning on Radio Waatea, in an interview with talk host Willie Jackson.

CULTURAL STRENGTH DEFENCE AGAINST VIOLENT REACTION

A native American expert on indigenous health says people with a strong grip on their culture are more able to withstand the forces that lead to violence.

Karina Walters, a member of the Choctaw nation of Oklahoma and the director of the indigenous wellness research institute at the University of Washington, was a speaker at yesterday's symposium in Auckland on violence and abuse, organised by the Maori centre for research excellence Nga Pae o te Maramatanga.

She says violence is not a part of indigenous culture, but was often a reaction to the historical trauma felt by indigenous people and the little acts of aggression they experience every day because of racism and stereotyping.

“The folks who are coming to our attention are the ones who aren’t weathering it very well. On the practical end you’ve got to stop the violence on the ground first, but on the healing end it’s beginning to look at how violence was learned. How has this been part of and experience over generations and how you can begin to repair that and heal,” Professor Walters says.

Teaching people about their history and giving them pride in their culture is often the first step away from violent responses.

NATIONAL TASK TO ADDRESS MAORI MALE LEARNING

The head of te Wananga o Aotearoa says getting young Maori into second chance education is a national issue.

Research from Victoria University's Institute of policy studies indicates tertiary institutions and wananga in particular are doing a poor job getting Maori males into second chance education.

Bentham Ohia says the problem needs to be tackled earlier, rather than let Maori men into the workforce without being able to read and write.

“There are challenges earlier in the secondary school system around Maori male achievement levels also so there’s some commensurate challenges for the whole country and we must focus on our collective resources and strengths,” Mr Ohia says.

Te Wananga o Aotearoa has developed trade training courses which should bring back many young Maori males into education.

Enduring principles under foreshore deal

Ngati Porou chairperson Apirana Mahuika says iwi leaders are welcome to copy elements of his tribe's Foreshore and Seabed settlement as they try to rewrite the controversial Act.

Iwi leaders have called a national hui in Rotorua tomorrow to discuss Prime Minister John Key's promise of repeal if a suitable alternative can be developed.

Mr Mahuika says while his iwi's settlement is based on four key principles, starting with acknowledgement of Maori's spiritual beliefs.

“The second one is toi tu, te mana tangata, te mana moana, and so toi tu was a key issue in terms of the principles we laid because toi tu means enduring, unbroken, inalienable and sustainable,” Mr Mahuika says.

Reform must also recognise Maori as tangata whenua, or the first people, and their unalienable rights as partners with the crown under the Treaty of Waitangi.

MIKAERE SEES HARAWIRA RACE ATTITUDES STUCK IN PAST

The former Waitangi Tribunal director whose email exchange with Hone Harawira has led to the maverick MP facing disciplinary action from the Maori Party says Mr Harawira's view of race relations belongs in the past.

Buddy Mikaere says the tirade he got back in response to his initial jocular question about who paid for Mr Harawira's wife's trip to Paris threatened to derail the positive relations that have been building between Maori and the Crown since John Key included the Maori Party in his government.

The MP talked of whites raping the land and ripping off Maori for centuries.

“I know that I the past, that has been the Maori experience. We’ve moved past that stage now. We’re into doing something about it rather than scratching the scabs off the hakikahi. That’s the genesis of all Maori grievances really, the colonial experience. We’re past all that and you can’t go lumping people into great generalised descriptions like that,” Mr Mikaere says.

He's come under huge pressure since releasing the emails, as Mr Harawira challenged him to do, and he thinks the MP should resign.

DOC WIKIRIWHI CELEBRATES 80TH BIRTHDAY

Mayors, former mayors and governors general turned out to Rewiti Marae west of Auckland on the weekend to celebrate the 80th birthday of kaumatua extraordinaire Takutai Wikiriwhi.

Guests included the Governer General Anand Satyanand, Dame Cath Tizard, Waitakere's mayor Bob Harvey and a large numbers of Mr Whikiriwhi's Ngati Whatua and Kawerau a Maki people.

Tamaki Makaurau MP Pita Sharples says few people have contributed as much to Auckland.

He says Uncle Doc as he's known to his huge whanau has been a steadying influence on generations of Maori born in or arriving into the city.

“I'll never forget his contribution to Auckland city and to his own people, Ngati Whatua but also to people like ourselves who came to Tamaki in taura here and set up our own situation like Waititi Marae, Whanau Waipareira, MUMA, all those things, He’s been supportive of all those things, great man,” Dr Sharples says.

VIOLENCE SYMPOSIUM AIMS TO DRAW TOGETHER SECTOROne of the organisers of a symposium on violence and abuse in te ao Maori hopes it marks the start of finding solutions.

The hui in Auckland called by Nga Pae O Te Maramatanga, the centre for Maori Research Excellence, brought together more than 200 people working in the field, including indigenous speakers from Australia and the United States.

Dr Tracy McIntosh from Ngai Tuhoe, a senior lecturer in Sociology at Auckland University, says response to the problem has so far been fragmented.

“What we're looking at is drawing people together to work much more collaboratively to try to bring critical mass behind these issues. It’s not that there’s not a lot of work being done. It’s not that there, not a lot of leadership in Maori communities around these issues but I think the fragmented approach means whilst we may be able to make incremental changes we can‘t make the systematic changes we need, but this is very much an early beginning,” Dr McIntosh says.

TURIA ATTACKS TEACHING OUTCOMES

Associate Employment minister Tariana Turia says the failure of schools to adequately teach Maori pupils will have long-term consequences for the country.

A new Ministry of Education report shows the number of men finishing bachelor's degrees is falling, and other research shows almost all tertiary institutions have a poor record of offering second chance education to young Maori men.

Mrs Turia says if ways can't be found to help young Maori men achieve in the education system, they face a lifetime of low paid work or even joblessness.“That's going to have an impact on our aging population because we need as many people as possible contributing to the economy so that we can afford to pay superannuation and all of those things that we do now,” Mrs Turia says.

She says it's up to central government to fix the problem... rather than rely on iwi to spend their Treaty settlements redressing the balance.

HANGI STEAM OFFERING TO THE GODS

People with connections to Parihaka have marked one of the most significant days in their calendar, the annivarsay of the 1881 invasion of the Taranaki village by colonial forces.

Te Miringa Hohaia from the Parihaka International Peace festival says the Pahua always draws back hundreds of descendants to remember the teachings of Tohu kakahi and te Whiti o Rongomai, who led a non-violent campaign against land confiscation.

The day is marked by a special feast in the wharekai Ranui, whose menu of chicken, pork and eel harks back to the food available when the community was under seige.

“The kaupapa of that feast or the tikanga of that hakari when the hangi is open, the steam that arises and goes to the sky is the offering that the people are making back to the Atua,” Mr Hohaia says.

Rather than Christian prayers, a simple statement from Tohu Kakahi about the meaning of the hakari is recited.

Monday, November 09, 2009

Foreshore repeal test of National change

An historian whose been caught up in the foreshore debate says repealing the Foreshore and Seabed Act would be a sign the National Party is finally turning its back on the divisive politics of Muldoonism.

John Mitchell of Ngati Tama was part of the group of top of the South Island iwi whose attempts to confirm their customary rights in the coastal area kicked off the crisis.

He says Prime Minister John Key’s conciliatory style has opened the way for progress and is in sharp contrast to his predecessors, especially the late Sir Robert Muldoon.

"He really divided this country. He brought out a strand of nastiness that’s not far below the thoughts of all of us I guess. Brash was just the latest manifestation of that and I think what we have now is a will on behalf of the country to move away from that, to become more unified and I think John Key is trying hard to reflect that,” Dr Mitchell says.

The iwi leaders’ forum has called a national hui in Rotorua tomorrow on what should replace the Foreshore and Seabed Act, with regional hui to follow.

MARINE FARMING REFORM GIVES HOPE FOR RURUAL JOBLESS

Meanwhile, one of the country's leading aquaculturalists says marine farming reforms will create much need jobs in rural areas.

Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley last week told an industry conference the government would open up more areas to aquaculture and bring in other reforms recommended by a technical advisory group.

Harry Mikaere from Hauraki says a moratorium on new licenses and uncertainty about the recognition of Maori rights have stalled development for a decade.

He says the reforms should allow iwi to take up the 20 percent of marine farming area they were promised, creating opportunities for their communities.

“It’s incumbent on us to bring, in a very hard recession like this one, some enjoyment to those we can actually meet. The sooner we can go through a regime of this Aquaculture TAG report being implemented, the sooner we can start developing these industries that will take care of some of the unemployment,” Mr Mikaere says.

His runanga's Coromandel-based operation employs around 120 workers, and that number can now grow.

SHARPLES MERGES TE KARAKA’S SCHOOLS TO RETAIN NUMBERS

Associate Education minister Pita Sharples has agreed to set up an area school in Te Karaka because of what he says was the strong desire of the East Coast community to keep education facilities in the area.

Waikohu College and Te Karaka Primary School will close at the end of next year to make way for the new school.

Dr Sharples says the alternative was busing children to Gisborne.

He says it’s the outcome the predominantly Te Aitanga a Mahaaki community was seeking.

“I was so overwhelmed by the community wanting to keep a whole education programme in their community and wanting a very good one so I made the decision to close their two schools the primary school and the college, and reopen an area school from years one to 13,” Dr Sharples says.

Existing teachers will have to apply for positions in the new area school.

SPECIAL PROGRAMMES NEEDED FOR MAORI JOBLESSNESS

The Council of Trade unions says the government should create special programmes for areas of high Maori unemployment.

The latest household labour force survey shows number of Maori out of work jumped over the past year from 9.6 percent to 14.2 percent, compared with a Pakeha unemployment rise from 3.1 to 4.1 percent.

CTU secretary Peter Conway says there are simple things the government can do to target assistance to out of work Maori and to areas of high Maori unemployment such as Northland and the East Coast.

“Targeting your community programmes and your youth opportunities to make sure that where there is a large concentration of Maori workers who are unemployed, and making sure things like the Skills Investment Fund which means there is a subsidy available to help with training to help people into a new job, that that is targeted as well to people in most need,” Mr Conway says.

The high Maori rate is affected by the relative youth of the Maori population and by the effect of the recession on sectors like manufacturing and construction.

FORESHORE HUI PUTTING POWER IN IWI HANDS

Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples hopes a national hui tomorrow will be the start of an iwi-driven rewrite of the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

The hui in Rotorua has been called by the Iwi Leaders’ Forum, which includes major coastal iwi such as Ngai Tahu, Kahungunu and Ngapuhi.

Dr Sharples says now Prime Minister John Key has indicated the Government is willing to agree to the Maori Party’s demand the Act be repealed, it’s important to find an alternative acceptable to iwi and hapu.

“This is a thing that affects Maori, not the Maori Party. The Maori Party was really the front line that took it in. Now it’s for Maridom to come forward with what they think should be appropriate to replace that act that divided us so badly. So I’ve very pleased our iwi are involved,” Dr Sharples says.

He also expects contributions from academics and hapu from all around the country.

IWI CONSULTED ON MOA BONE FATE

The Taupo district council expects to know today whether 40 large bones unearthed during earthworks for the town’s new east arterial highway come from moa.

Infrastructure manager Ted Anderson says archaeologists will examine the bones, which appear to have come from two large and one small moa and could be between two and three thousand year old.

He says the council intended to send the bones to Auckland University for examination and storage, but after consultation with Ngati Tuwharetoa it decided to keep them in the area.

He says the bones have been vacuum packed and put in a cold, secure place until a decision is made on how to deal with them.

Mr Anderson says if they are moa bones, the iwi will decide whether they should be reburied or go on museum display.